Review of union conduct ‘a stunt’

The government busied itself setting up a review into union conduct in industrial disputes last month, in what looked like little more than a witch hunt.

But, as it did so, construction union UCATT launched legal proceedings against a string of leading building companies involved in the now infamous blacklist run by The Consulting Association.

The government review, by Bruce Carr QC, was put forward as a response to Unite’s “leverage” tactics (see page 7 this issue) although Liberal Democrat ministers quickly stepped in to say it would cover blacklisting too. But Unite sees it as “nothing more than a Tory election stunt”, a view echoed by TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady.

Like the government, UCATT has also employed a QC, Mark Warby, but there the similarity ends. Warby will be focussing on the misuse of private information and breach of confidence due to the personal information contained in blacklisted members’ files.

Steve Murphy, general secretary of UCATT, said: “Blacklisting companies wilfully destroyed the lives of ordinary construction workers and acted as though they were above the law.”

The companies that UCATT is taking action against include Balfour Beatty, BAM, CB&I, Costain, Carillion, Laing O’Rourke, Lend Lease, Sir Robert McAlpine and Vinci.

In addition, and uniquely, UCATT is to commence legal action against an individual who held the position of chair of The Consulting Association and was a senior HR manager for a major blacklisting company.

www.hazards.org/blacklistblog/2013/11/20/tuc-calls-for-a-proper-inquiry-into-blacklisting/

www.ucatt.org.uk/ucatt-launches-major-legal-action-against-blacklisting-companies